Gijinka
by Shiva491
Summary: Gjinka are half-human, half pokemon creatures, originally pokemon. There are some that wish to return to before... and there are those who are more ambitious, and will obliterate anything and anybody that gets in their way.
1. The first Gijinka

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon, or any of their characters. Wish I did.

_The slightly secondary disclaimer:_ I got the idea for this story from, of all things, a forum game. In it, posters would play as 'gijinka pokemon'. The basic idea was sound, but it was lacking in many things- most prominently, plot. The game jumped all over the place. When I decided to write a fanfiction about it (sort of), I changed several major ideas, plugged some practical holes, created a much more (I think) believable plot, created some backstory and slightly altered the meaning of the word 'gijinka'. By now, I think I can reasonably call it my work. Anyway, I have decided to keep at least two of the characters from the original that I liked.

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For once, Darkrai was not anywhere near his domain. He surveyed his surroundings with mild distaste and deep rooted suspicion. This would be the first time Cressalia had fled to any region other than Sinnoh, which was as much his as hers, if not more so. She surprised him, doing this, and forced him to consider the harsh possibility that she knew other places, places he had no control over.

It was dark here, very dark, which suited Darkrai just fine. No lights poured forth from people's dwellings; this was a place left to the rule of nature, an isolated piece of the Johto region. Cressalia had better know to where she fled, for her own sake. For her to venture out, in an unknown, mostly uninhabited place with no moonlight falling from the sky to guide her, the time she was at her weakest and himself at his greatest strength, was bound to be suicide. One other thing Darkrai knew from multiple skirmishes with his enemy and prey: Cressalia was not stupid. She knew he was hunting her, knew it and went on anyway, even in these conditions. Therefore, there was something she knew that he did not, a dangerous possibility. Twice before, there had been similar conditions, and both times she had surprised him, to her benefit and his immense discomfort.

Nevertheless, the conditions were still too good to pass up. There was always the possibil-

Darkrai's thoughts were abruptly interrupted. An immense city, a huge light, had appeared on the horizon. And, Darkrai noticed with a devilish smirk, a pinkish ball of light, not too far ahead, was making a beeline for that exact spot.

_Aaahh. So that's your surprise, Cressalia? Playing so helpless, and then calling for help._

Humans always came to her, when she asked them in dreams.

_Two can play at that game, you know. _

Oh yes, he thought to himself. Cressalia's surprise was this bright city. His surprise would be… darker. More clever. A cunning trap. But for once, it would seem to start out bright.

As Cressalia sped towards the city, Darkrai took a more leisurely pace, soaking up the untainted darkness, the pure night with no moon in the sky. Even the stars were covered by a dark cloud. This was his night.

She had reached the city. Let her dreams run loose; this time, he would bend them to _his _advantage!

A while later, Darkrai strode into the bright light. He explored a little bit, trying to find a dark alley where he would not be found.

_Such a nuisance! In Sinnoh, I know every little alley… and Cressalia has hidden herself well. No matter. She'll be mine soon._

Finding an appropriate place, Darkrai settled down and bent the resting minds for many miles around to his will. He filled his self with a sharp image, a specific nightmare that all would be forced to endure. It started out somewhat bright.

_A pinkish ball of light sprinted past. _

_It came to rest in an alley, and resolved itself into a likeness of Cressalia. Blood was pouring from a wound on her back._

_Help me! It screamed, as the image grew steadily darker. Find me! I need help-_

Whatever Darkrai was going to have it say next was interrupted. A whitish purple spark had seemingly "jumped" into the vision.

_That's odd. _Thought Darkrai. _The troubled minds of my viewers often add to the darkness of my creations, but never before has something bright appeared that I did not summon._

Turning his attention to the spot, he watched with mild amusement as the whitish purple sparks flared up again. This time, they looked like miniature bolts of lightning. They fell again.

A few seconds later, they sprang up again, but no longer miniature. Now they were ropes of lightning- ropes that rose up and wrapped around Darkrai before he could react. At this point, the usually calm Darkrai started to panic as they dragged him down, down, into the point where he fell unconscious….

For many miles around, all who were asleep (and a few who weren't) shuddered in the grip of the horrible nightmare.

Among those thousands, about a hundred also felt the whitish-purple sparks.

Not much later, Darkrai awoke, feeling mildly unpleasant.

_What… was that? _

He lifted himself up, and found himself facing a reflective surface.

_WHAT? … what has happened?_

For in the mirror-like gleam, he found a body utterly changed. It was in the general shape of a human, but the pitch-black robes that it wore fanned out, as if they were simply growing out of the shadows. They carried a certain darkness with them, a darkness that had nothing to do with visibility, Darkrai noticed with cunning delight. The hands of the figure were a dark black, and ended in pointed talons. They were a smooth cold, and razor sharp. Darkrai soon found them to hold a great strength.

Around the neck of the new body, a blood red jaw-like ornamentation hung in place. It consisted of one solid, jagged piece, which grew larger towards the front of the figure, making for a very intimidating look.

The skin on his face was not pure black, but very close. His hair was white, but not long. His ears were somewhat pointed, but seemed to catch every least sound. _That will be useful for my night excursions, _he thought.

His eyes were a deceptively bright blue, of the color one would see in a young child. But his pupils were a darker black than that of anything else on his body. Staring into them, one would feel as if cruelly drawn to a black hole, a hole that pulled all of your fear to the surface of your mind. Darkrai looked into his own eyes and shuddered. First with fear, and then with tremendous anticipation. These were the eyes of a powerful creature.

Wishing to know the strengths of his new body, Darkrai lashed out with his claws. His target, a large crate, groaned and split in two. Darkrai grinned with fiendish delight.

He seized a passing rattata and sunk his talons into it. It shuddered and grew limp in his hands. Darkrai hurled it at a nearby wall. When it fell, the wall had a large dent in it.

The best was yet to come, Darkrai knew. He had not yet exercised any of his special abilities. If _they_ had grown as much in strength as his physical abilities had…

He fired off several dark voids, more or less at random. Most simply diffused into darkness upon colliding with walls. A couple hit living things- another rattatata and several pidgey. They immediately collapsed in heaps, asleep. They shook for a moment with nightmares; and then went limp, unconscious.

_How delightful._ Thought Darkrai, thinking of the power he had just displayed. Why, even his ability had been enhanced!

At long last getting to his damaging attacks, Darkrai softly pulled from the nearby shadows, and released an experimental dark pulse. It struck a nearby building with a snarling ferocity, and, within minutes, ripped it to shreds. The same dark pulse continued on, to rip through one more large building, before it ended. He unleashed a couple more, utterly destroying the alley around him, before deciding to explore his full strength somewhere less conspicuous.

_Oh, dear Cressalia, what a lovely gift you have given me tonight. You will feel my wrath soon, you and all your human friends. These humans… no longer are they your saviors! I can walk right in to your traps, and out, unharmed. My rage shall be all-consuming!_

_One thing is obvious… I am no longer pokemon. I have human intellect… and possess, still, my powers. There must be a name for this state of being. Hmm…? There's not? Then I will give this state a name. I am… and anyone else, who reaches this state… shall be known as __**gijinka**__._

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Author's notes: _Regarding the story so far: _I know that not much is revealed in the first chapter.

For those of you who haven't figured it out by now: Darkrai is the main antagonist in this story. I will be introducing the main protagonist next chapter. Please review- I'd very much like to know what others think of my writing.


	2. The Other Viewpoint

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.**

**Author's Notes: Sorry things are taking so long to heat up. I just want to make sure my characters have some backstory.**

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Not far away, a murkrow in a (more or less) human body lay sprawled unconscious in an alley. He shuddered occasionally, as if trapped in a horrible nightmare.

Suddenly, he woke up. There was no mirror in this alley, but he could feel right away that something was wrong. He lifted an appendage up and found, instead of a wing, an arm and hand.

_What! How? This must be another nightmare…_

For nightmares had been troubling him all night. Swallowing his panic, Murkrow got up, and instantly decided that had to be the case, although it was an unusually clear and defined nightmare. His legs were utterly different; he couldn't see his talons anywhere! He could feel them, though…

Murkrow took off his 'shoes' (he lived in the city-he could recognize those, at least) and found that he was not really utterly lost. His 'toes' were longer, more flexible, and obviously stronger than a normal human's. Where a human's toes ended in flimsy nails, his now ended in dark talons that looked rather dangerous.

_What am I now, some half-and-half creature? What in the world happened!_

He shakily decided that he had to find out more, starting with what this body was like. He had collected many shiny things as a murkrow, including a small hand mirror.

_I'll just… find them. And then find out what's going on. There's got to be an explanation…_

Another thought struck him. His previous dwelling was very high up. He would have to be able to fly to get there. Not knowing where to start looking for his wings, he decided to just get there along the ground first, and _then_ try to fly.

That quickly provedmore easily said than done. Murkrow was lucky in that he had some experience in using only two legs before, but his balance was something else entirely. The walls frequently resounded with crashes as he got used to a new way of transportation. After a while, he fell less, and made his way to the building whose roof he had previously made his home.

During one of his many falls while learning to walk, Murkrow had painfully found his wings. He had refrained from unfurling them, however, afraid of what he would see, and not understanding how he would get them out through his 'jacket'. For they were folded on his back, not at his side, as they used to be.

Taking a deep breath, Murkrow spread his wings out. They somehow came easily out of the jacket. That, at least, was a relief. He pumped his wings, and quickly found himself thrust far higher in the air than he had expected. Regaining his balance, but not his breath, he saved the surprise for later and concentrated on moving the new wings with only the slightest movements, so as to not make any more unexpected jumps. He finally reached the roof, having managed the whole thing without once looking back at his wings. He drew them in, and walked over to where he had hidden his stash. He reluctantly uncovered the small hand mirror, and looked at himself fully for the first time.

He was certainly a half and half creature. Although, at first glance, he looked human, if one looked longer they would notice certain differences. His clothes, when inspected, had many dark feathers tightly woven into them, especially from the waist down. Above it he wore a sleek black jacket with long sleeves over a yellow t-shirt. On the back of the jacket, there were two slits, overlapped by material, which his wings must have slipped out of. They were almost completely unnoticeable, even up close.

His hands were of a white-ish shade, and didn't look very useful. When he flexed them in a certain way, however, feathered claws slid over them, from inside his sleeve. He flexed them again, and the silver-colored claws and black feathers slid right back up into unnoticeable shadows.

His face was the same color as his hands. His mouth was set in a gentle smile.

The iris of his eyes was a deep black, as if it was lost in shadows. His pupils, however, were of a yellowish white, and shone like stars, as light can only shine when surrounded by darkness.

Finally, Murkrow decided that he had to see his wings. He unfurled them-

-and, for the first time, was very much impressed by what he saw. His wings were huge- much larger than previously- and felt incredibly strong. He estimated that they were about two times his body length, making for an astounding 12-foot wingspan. They were covered in dark plumage, but it no longer seemed one solid black piece. Every detail of every feather could be seen, and yet they still blended quite well with the shadows. He lifted one up to the light, and was thrilled to see it clearly, outlined in the light of the dying day. Night was coming, but he didn't care.

He also found that he had excellent control over his wings, very finite control, although these wings were far from finite. They were strong, strong enough to do serious damage, he realized. After spending some time learning how to use them, Murkrow found that he could fly farther, faster and higher than he had ever before, at the cost of only a little agility- which he was sure he could regain with practice.

He was afraid of being seen, however, and settled back into the alley. He was by no means happy about his predicament, though he had enjoyed flying. What good is flying if one must always be on sharp lookout for probing eyes?

For Murkrow knew of humans. They feared anything that was different, and he was certainly different. He could not afford to be discovered, for humans destroyed what they feared.

His moping was interrupted by the swift arrival of another creature. It looked human, but the swift pace it was charging at him suggested otherwise. Getting hit by that charge would hurt.

Needless to say, the creature was constantly stumbling- as if it had suddenly gotten its balance drastically changed, or had lost some legs. Looking for a second longer, Murkrow noticed several long pale tails flowing behind it. _A ninetails, escaped from a pokemon center, I'd guess, but maybe its offbalance because it's in the same situation as me?_ Murkrow speculated.

There was no time to ponder the subject further, however, as the human/? creature had gotten it's balance back from its most recent fall, and was charging again, straight at him.

Murkrow threw his wings out and pumped them down as powerfully as he could. They threw him far off the ground, which was lucky, because he still only narrowly missed the searing blast of flame the creature launched at where he had been only a few moments before, as it charged past. Murkrow slashed with his claws at it, and then dropped out of the sky to attack from behind. The creature spun and charged again. Murkrow slammed one of his wings into his foe, as hard as he could, and sent the creature flying backward into a wall. He stood tensed, hoping that the creature would not attack again.

A few seconds later, it stood up again, dazed. It studied him for a moment, quickly muttered "Sorry!" and dashed off in the opposite direction.

_What scared it so much to come charging in like that? And why did it attack me?_

"Interesting." Said a deep voice from behind him.

Murkrow whirled, claws still outstretched, hoping this creature was not a threat. What he saw sent a shiver of fear down his spine. The human/? creature wore robes that seemingly flowed from the shadows. Around his neck was a blood red …something… that reminded Murkrow of a jagged jaw.

What had scared him the most were the creature's eyes. The irises were an innocent bright blue, but his pupils were black, darker than anything he'd ever seen… and they frightened him. This was not a kind creature.

Since the creature didn't seem like it was going to attack right away, Murkrow decided to tentatively ask:

"Who are you? _What_ are you?"

"Who am I…. is for me to reveal as I choose. As for what I am… Is it not obvious? I am gijinka. A pokemon that has become, visibly, human, but has kept all of their pokemon abilities."

Murkrow just stared, for the description fit him perfectly.

"You are, obviously, a strong gijinka… I tested that other, pathetic ninetails gijinka, and found it sorely lacking. But it seems I did not waste my time. You're fight with it was magnificently onesided."

_This 'gijinka'… it scared that other creature so bad that it ran off that fast… and attacked me._

"I wondered why it attacked me in the first place."

"Probably because of the color. You are a creature of the darkness, just like me."

The way the other gijinka said 'creature of the darkness' vaguely disturbed him. Sure, he was a nocturnal dark type, but the creature's smooth, cold voice implied something more sinister.

"What is it that you want?"

"Why, to ask if you would …travel… with me, of course. I can teach you many things about your new state."

_I need to know that sort of thing_, Murkrow thought. _And he did beat that other thing without getting a single scratch on him…_

…_but I something about him is wrong, and there's no way he's telling all. I can't trust him._

"Ummm… no thank you. Maybe later."

Surprisingly, it worked. The other gijinka studied him for a moment longer with those dreadful eyes, and then turned around and melted into the darkness.

Murkrow shuddered. So he was a gijinka.

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**Authors Notes: I like the way this is going. Do you? Please review! **


	3. Who else is out there?

**You ought to know the disclaimer. Seriously.**

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Murkrow had returned to his previous nest. He no longer could reasonably use it; it was much too small. He returned more out of nostalgia than necessity.

At the moment, the sun was setting. There was a bright wind in the air, as if it had rolled off the mountains. Other creatures might have suspected thus, but for Murkrow, who had visited mountains before, it was a certainty. That breeze in the orange sky reminded him of times now taken from him, of times when he had joined family and slept on those peaks. Even as a true murkrow, he had not spent much time there, preferring the easy life in the city. He regretted it much more deeply, now that it had been taken away from him.

The sun had gone down. It was now night, though it made no difference to Murkrow. His eyes were adapted to night.

Not all creatures were, however. He wondered what had become of the ninetails gijinka.

_How did a ninetails get into the city, anyway? I've never seen one here before..._

He finally decided that he would go and try to find it, for something to do, and to satisfy his curiosity. He stretched his great dark wings, and lept off into the night.

Sometime later, he found it, still randomly roaming the city. From what he could tell, it had gotten lost. It had also acquired several new wounds, he noticed. It had probably accidentally invaded the territory of certain more difficult pokemon to deal with. If it didn't get out soon, it was bound to get itself killed here.

Murkrow felt partly responsible for the other gijinka's fate, since he had inflicted several of the worse wounds. He dropped out of the sky and landed beside him. The ninetails gijinka promptly spun on the balls of his feet, saw him, and, lacking an exit, shrunk back into the darkness of the alley.

_Why did it run? _Murkrow thought. _It must think I'm going to attack it again._

"I'm not going to hurt you!" he called after the swiftly retreating gijinka. It stopped, evidently indecisive. Murkrow came up closer. "Just don't attack me again, alright?"

"Okay," the other gijinka whispered back. "I don't have anywhere to go, anyway."

Murkrow thought of his own home, and sat down. "I know what you mean."

The ninetails gijinka sat down, too. "No, you don't." it said much more confidently. "You, at least, know this city, and know how to escape from it. You know how to live here, how to survive. You have a semblance of a home."

"My home used to be wilderness, pure wilderness. I am no longer a creature of it. I was woken from a fitful sleep here, in the city, in a different body. I have no home." The gijinka said sorrowfully.

_But most likely truthfully, _Murkrow reasoned. C_onsidering the circumstances._

The other gijinka was still looking at him. Murkrow guessed, now getting a somewhat closer look, that it truly would not survive another night. The ninetails gijinka's wounds were much deeper than they looked from the air.

_Now what? I went looking for him to keep my mind off my predicament, but I really don't know what I was expecting. He obviously needs help, but it's not like I don't have troubles of my own. That dark monster gijinka that attacked us both, for instance. It could be anywhere. Still… it might know something, or…_

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as the ninetails gijinka started to slyly steal past him. Acting on a rare impulse, Murkrow spun and grabbed him, flexed his wings, and pulled the other gijinka into the air with him…

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**Author's notes: If you haven't noticed, I don't update this very often (I am in high school, and usually only find time to write in the summer). Even so, I still find the story interesting, and probably won't forget it.**


	4. Learning fast

**Yes, pokemon does not belong to me. Tis' a pity.**

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It was a bright, clear, peaceful morning in the unnamed mountain valley. Still, quiet plant pokemon showed their flowers and leaves as they soaked up the first bit of sun. The night pokemon, prey and predator, had returned to their homes, and most day dwellers had yet to wake. The rattattas and pidgeys scavenged for food, knowing that the great pidgeot who nested on the mountain's peak was not yet hunting.

Abruptly, a large shadow sunk down into the valley. The plant pokemon looked up, gasped in terror, and scuttled back into the shadows to hide. Rattattas ducked under alcoves and pidgeys flew screeching to their nests. Even the great pidgeot cracked an eye in alarm. Above, it saw a huge black bird with nine fiery tails flowing behind it. The eye narrowed as it tried to decide how to deal with this newcomer to his territory.

Then the bird flew closer and the pidgeot recoiled in confusion and alarm. There were humans on that great black bird! No, it realized, staring with its keen eyes, the humans were _part _of the creature. What was this _thing_ doing on his mountain?

Murkrow slowly descended into the valley, trying not to shock the ninetails gijinka during the scariest part of flying. He hadn't intended to land here, for it was too close to the city and a valley he didn't know well, but carrying the ninetails had been so exhausting to him that he knew he couldn't safely go farther. Murkrow touched ground and bent down in exhaustion. Flying had taken all of his energy, and he needed to eat something, soon. The ninetails forgotten for the moment, Murkrow swept his gaze across the valley, looking for signs of food. He didn't see many signs of life, and it dawned on him that all the smaller pokemon must have fled when he landed. He cracked a small, tired grin-he probably wouldn't have to worry much about predators. Then he frowned, realizing how different this gijinka body was, and how hard it would be to catch anything. He looked again, this time for edible plants, but he didn't recognize any.

The ninetails quietly interrupted his search.

"I think we'd better move out of this clearing. There's a pidgeot eyeing us up there."

Murkrow looked up and noticed the pidgeot. They had always been a great fear of his as a Murkrow, and he had no idea if he was capable of challenging one now.

_Especially not when I'm this exhausted_, he thought. The ninetail's suggestion made sense, and they slowly started moving out of the clearing. Around them, the forest grew suddenly still and quiet.

They reached a quiet spot and sat down beneath a large tree. One of the ninetails ears twitched to face up it, and Murkrow wondered if it had heard something he hadn't. The ninetails spoke again, not quite as quietly.

"You look really wiped out, you know. I can hear a pidgey up in that tree. I'm going to try and catch it, and if I do, I'll give you some, too."

The ninetails might have said more, but Murkrow didn't hear it as he drifted off into sleep.

He awoke next to a cozy fire, smelling the scent of roast something cooking over it. The ninetails gijinka looked up from its catch.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I thought you might never wake up." It said, sounding somewhat exasperated, as it tore off a piece of the meat and offered it to him. Murkrow began devouring it ravenously, as the ninetails sat and watched.

"Well, I guess you can thank me later. That's a rattatta, you know. Couldn't catch the pidgey. I'm still not used to this body." The ninetails chatted. Murkrow listened, but continued tearing into the meat.

"Uck. You must be starving." The ninetails added, watching him eat. "By the way, I thought Murkrows never slept. Guess that rumor was wrong, huh?"

Murkrow, finishing the meat, answered the ninetail's question.

"Actually, most don't. When I was growing up, I was the only one in my nest who slept. I don't know whether I wish I didn't or not, actually. I missed out on a lot my siblings did because of it, but it always felt good to wake up refreshed, and they always seemed grumpier and more irritable without it. Could I have another piece of the rattatta?"

"Sure," the ninetails said, tearing another large chunk off. "I've already ate. You can have the rest if you want." Murkrow grabbed the whole thing off the stick and began gnawing wildly at it.

"Seriously, why do you eat so fast? It'll make your stomach hurt, you know."

Murkrow realized he had a point and slowed down. A bit.

The ninetails sighed. "I guess I'm not going to get much out of you until you finish that. I have to thank you for flying me out of that place while I remember, though. And now that I think about it, sorry for attacking you that time, too. You were just so black and I had just ran into this seriously scary dark dude…"

_No kidding_, Murkrow thought as he polished off the rattatta.

"Good, you're done. Still hungry?"

"Yeah. Flying takes a lot of energy, and carting stuff takes a lot more." Murkrow said. "No offence intended." he added hastily.

"Glad I wasn't a burden," the ninetails dryly replied. "I found a spot where we could probably catch some more, if you want to come."

Murkrow hesitated. He had finished off wounded prey before, but murkrows were scavengers, not hunters. His hunger was yelling 'Say yes!Say yes!Sayyes!yesysesyesys' though, and he realized he might not get another opportunity for a while. Besides, he was a lot bigger than a rattatta now.

"Yes, that would be nice," he told the ninetails. "though you might have to help me out a bit."

"Yeah, having a different body threw my balance, too." said the ninetails, misinterpreting his difficulty.

"This way," the ninetails led. Murkrow started to unfurl his wings and remembered that the ninetails couldn't fly. He trudged after the ninetails on foot, trying to imitate how it moved. He noticed that it put its center of balance off, though, by leaning over, and remembered its awkward four-legged charge in the city. _This ninetails was probably four-legged,_ he realized. _It must have had a harder time adjusting its balance than I did. _

"Hey, di-"Murkrow began. "Shhh" said the ninetails, pointing towards some bushes and dropping to all fours. Murkrow strained to see what it was pointing at, but didn't notice anything unusual. "What is it?" he whispered. "I don't see anything."

The ninetails looked at him like he was an idiot, and whispered back "Hear, not see. Faint scuttering sounds. Coming often but quietly- something small, with short legs. It noticed us, though-I'm not hearing anything more. This close it probably froze, and didn't run. It's alert now, so we can't sneak up on it, but we might still get it in one leap if we aim well." Murkrow was about to ask how he was supposed to aim if he had no idea where the thing was when the ninetails jerked out, a red blur leaping for a random bush. A pidgey hopped out, and before the ninetails could intercept, it had flapped its wings and taken several short bursts of flight into a tree a decent ways away.

"Rats," the ninetails grumbled.

_No, birds_, Murkrow thought, rather confused by the proceedings.

"I hate flying types."

_Gee, thanks._

"There's a lot of them around here, actually. Was this some sort of migratory bird-haven when you grew up, or something?" the ninetails asked, having returned from its misaimed leap.

"No, but there always has been a large bird population. Then again, it has been a while since I've been here. Some Fearow might have found it, I guess."

"So um, that aside, you couldn't hear the pidgey?"

"Um, well… no. I guess you have better hearing."

"Smell, too, for what I've seen of you, though that wouldn't have helped you with that pidgey. Bad wind." The ninetails added, slightly presumptuously.

"Well, I probably have better sight," Murkrow returned. "Especially at night."

"Pheh," the ninetails grunted, its tone condescending, but its head turned away much like a toddler who walked away at the end of a lost argument for the sake of pretending it had not.

Suddenly, it turned back.

"You're not a hunter, are you?" it asked, eeying him in a manner that made Murkrow feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Not by nature. But I'm omnivorous, and I've killed things before, so don't worry about me getting squeamish. I'm just not used to deliberately trying to hunt something." Murkrow said, hoping that he'd managed to convey that he was neither expert hunter nor suitable prey.

The ninetails seemed to accept the response. "Well, that makes things a bit more difficult. I'm used to hunting pokemon that don't fly, and it took me forever to find that rattatta. I was hoping you might be able to catch some of these weaker fliers."

"I might be able to do that," Murkrow added hesitantly, a bit put off by the ninetail's seeming assumption that he was inept, despite the fact that he had encouraged it. "I have a large wingspan, though; I might get caught in all these trees."

"Hmm… that might actually be helpful in a clearing. You could use it like a net, maybe?"

"I guess…" Murkrow trailed off, not entirely sure what the ninetails meant.

"Let's try this, then."

-Several hours later-

Murkrow crouched in a tree at the edge of the clearing, waiting. It had grown dark, but he hadn't had much trouble adjusting.

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a loud crash and felt the warmth of a blast of fire on his back. Keeping his reflexes in check, he studied his surroundings for any trace of other movement, any other creature startled by the disruption. He hardly had to wait seconds. Several small creatures ran fleeing into the clearing, where he dropped like a hawk on them, stabbing at the nimble little prey-things until all had either escaped or been stabbed. He had caught three; two spearows and a rattatta. Their blood was oozing into the ground and dripping from his claws. An unclean kill, yes, but food was food.

Despite the raw odors, Murkrow picked them up without any hunger pains as the ninetails emerged from the woods. He had already eaten over thirteen of the small creatures, shocking himself with the sheer number. There would be no more flying excursions for a while.

"Here," Murkrow said, proffering one. "You like rattatta, right?"

"Nah, I've eaten enough," the ninetails said. "I bumped my head pretty hard back there. It's getting too dark for me to do this. Let's stash these and settle in for the night."

"Okay," Murkrow said, his claws still unsheathed, the two spearows pierced like marshmallows waiting for toasting. He'd only been to a campfire a few times, but could personally attest to the taste of the little white things, especially cooked. They were so much harder to snatch, but oh, were they good.

It took them a little while longer to reach their makeshift shelter, a small cave Murkrow had found. In the back was a decent pile of their days work, and a cozy fire burned in the middle. Murkrow noted uncomfortably that the blood from the prey had seeped out, forming a dark maroon stain on the impermeable stone floor.

As the ninetails heated a small depression on the right side of the fire, Murkrow hung the spearows and rattatta over the flame. A short burst from the ninetails charred them black, and Murkrow sighed and added them to the pile.

_Odd,_ he thought_. I thought we had more than this when we left on that last excursion._

That wasn't good. The fire ought to have discouraged all but the most nasty, or desperate, of pokemon. Having gotten one free meal, the creature would likely try again. _Maybe I should stand watch._

"What's taking so long?" the ninetails muttered, sleepily.

"I think something stole from our hoard," Murkrow replied, not quite as sleepily.

"Oh, great." The ninetailed snapped, now considerably more awake. "Any thoughts on what it might be?"

"Well…" Murkrow looked down, searching for signs. Sure enough, some paw prints were vaguely impressed in the blood.

"There are prints, but I can't say what made them."

"Smells like dog." The ninetails said nastily, leaning over his shoulder.

"A pack, or single?"

"Single, I can tell that much. It's an unusual scent, though. It's got that same dog feel, but it isn't any of the types I know."

"Well, single probably means desperate. Dogs normally travel in packs," Murkrow said, as he turned away from the pile, following the increasingly smaller spots of blood that marked the tracks of the dog.

"Yeah, and that would explain why it was such a sloppy job, too. The thing was probably starving."

That stopped Murkrow. The ninetails had made a very good point- for it to be this desperate and shoddy, the creature probably was starving. And if it was, why hadn't it eaten more of the stash? Even an intelligent pokemon wouldn't have bothered trying to steal with impunity if it was starving and there was food to be had.

Which meant that something had scared it off. There weren't any other tracks but its and their own, so they had been the ones that it had run from. Plus, he noted, the blood from its tracks was still a little wet, despite the fire.

"Ninetails, it's probably still nearby. Try smelling for it, or something."

The ninetails obediently stuck its head outside. A few minutes later, it turned back, a smug look on its face.

"You're right," it whispered. "It isn't even that far from the mouth of the cave. Front right, in the direction of that stream. It must have soaked itself in it before coming here. Smart trick. The water would evaporate quickly because of the fire, so it wouldn't leave any tracks, and it would disguise the scent. That's why I didn't notice it coming in. I've found it now, though, so it doesn't matter."

"We should probably catch it or kill it. We can't have it raiding the pile in the night."

"Odd, though. For the time, the scent's spread too much. … seems a little large for a hondoom." The ninetails added, distractedly.

Murkrow, however, had already stealthily slunk out of the cave, keeping to the shadows where his jacket and plumage kept him from the dog's sight. His eyes had caught a glimpse of a quivering bush where his experience told him the wind shouldn't have been strong, and he crept up on it the same focused but careful way he had crept up on the near-dead, starving creatures that got lost in the city alleyways. The ones that were close enough to gone for him to risk a fight but still alive enough to be somewhat dangerous.

Unfortunately, as the ninetails could have told him, dogs don't hunt on sight alone. The air was fairly still, so his scent wasn't immediately blown to it, but Murkrow was only about half way to its hiding place when the bush shook violently as a large, yellow white creature burst out of it, rapidly sprinting away on all fours. Giving up stealth, Murkrow pumped his wings, hard, and soared forward, just above the low trees. The dog, confused, scared, hungry, and slowed by the vegetation, only managed to keep ahead for a second or two before Murkrow forcefully brought his sharp talons down on its back, and shrieked in pain as he realized that what he had thought was the dog's fur was actually hardened, sharp quills. Then he gasped again as it sent an electric shock through his body. Wrenching his talons free, he fell out of the sky and hit the ground, dazed but not knocked out. The dog agilely spun around, and was about to rake its electrified claws down Murkrow's torso when the blast of flame hit it squarely on the underbelly. Obviously hurt, it staggered back a few steps as Murkrow silently reminded himself to thank the ninetails for its timely intervention. It never got a chance to get back on its feet before Murkrow pinned it against a tree with a quick Pursuit and pressed his claws to its throat.

For the first time, Murkrow got a good look at its face. It was human.

* * *

One internet cookie to the first person to correctly identify the dog's species in a review!


	5. The third

Pokemon does not belong to me. Only my stories, my characters, my imagination are mine.

* * *

After the natural double-take, he noticed some abnormalities. Its face was a bit too angular, its lips a little too thin. It snarled at him and he noticed that its canines were a little too long, too sharp for a human's. Its hair was grouped much like the quills he had stabbed his foot on, and was a hue of yellow far too bright to pass for blond. Turning to the side-though still keeping his claws firmly pressed against its neck- Murkrow thought for a second that the dog was missing ears when he couldn't find them among its hair, but finally noticed them. They were long, thin, yellow and a little sharp on the outside. They would have been impossible to see among the many long, thin flowing quill-hairs if not for their dark, near black insides.

Turning back to look the dog in the face, Murkrow was suddenly moved by just how pitiable it was. It was still bearing its teeth, but Murkrow knew it to be a desperate, but ultimately futile gesture. The dog couldn't intimidate its way out of whatever he decided to do to it, not with his claws against its throat.

The dog knew it too. It glared at him sharply, with angled, almost parallelogram-shaped eyes and fine, but narrowed, eyebrows, but at the same time, its pupils were one third-covered by its lids, surrounded by dark, almost maroonish hazel irises, looking up at him in a way that suggested fear.

It was about this point that the ninetails walked up behind him.

"It's a gijinka, too." the ninetails stated flatly.

"Yeah," replied Murkrow, now unsure as to what to do.

Some moments passed in silence before the ninetails added "Although not a very smart one, apparently."

"Hey!" the dog protested. "That match was two on one. I'd have beat this flying guy if you hadn't fried me."

Odd choice of words, saying 'match', thought Murkrow. I'd have called this a serious fight, not a game.

"What's a match?" asked the ninetails. Evidently it was unfamiliar with either meaning of the word. Not that surprising, reflected Murkrow, given its abilities and where it grew up.

"It's sort of like a play fight, except a little more serious." Murcrow quickly contributed, drawing on previous memories of trainers and their pokemon's takes on the whole thing. Maybe the dog just didn't want to admit to himself how serious his situation was.

_Then again, I took him prisoner. I didn't kill him. Maybe that's why he's confused._

"Oh. Huh. Never heard of that before." the ninetails acknowledged.

"Actually, it isn't qui…you know what? Let's just go with that." The dog mumbled, a little upset about the apparent misconception.

Another few moments of silence followed before Murkrow finally brought up the question they were all thinking.

"So, what are we going to do with it-?"

"'It' is listening, you know," the dog grumbled.

"-Okay, fair enough. As I was saying: "We can't just let _him_ go, can we?"

"Ah, we probably could," the ninetails drawled. "After all, you wouldn't be stealing from our pile again, now, would you. Right?"

"No, Ma'am," the dog hastily replied.

Again, the ninetails turned to Murkrow. "What's a 'Ma'am'?", his expression asked. Murkrow shrugged. He thought he might have heard the word before, but didn't know what it meant.

"Though. Um. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that food? I'm a pretty good fighter and I haven't managed to find a thing," the dog stuttered.

"That's 'cause you move through the brush like a snorlax rolling down a rocky hill," the ninetails smirked, obviously amused.

"Wait," said Murkrow. "You said you could fight?"

"Well, yeah. I've was part of 5 different winning gym battles," the dog stated proudly, obviously considering this an important achievement.

"Oh," said Murkrow. "Well, that explains a lot."

"It does?" asked the ninetails, evidently even more confused.

"It does?" echoed the dog, evidently not understanding what needed to be explained.

"Ninetails and I are both wild, though I lived in the city, not the wilderness. You…were…a trainer's pokemon, right?"

"So THAT's why you move like such a clod," the ninetails said under its breath.

"I heard that," it shot back. "Wait a minute. You were wild? I thought this… thing… only affected trained pokemon. I guess I didn't really think that through, huh."

"Yeah, I sort of assumed it only affected wild pokemon, too," the ninetails admitted. "But this is pretty far from that city Murkrow and I met in-"

"Ladera City," Murkrow clarified.

"-how'd you end up here?"

"Well, we were going to Ladera city, but we were staying the night in tone of those towns a few miles from its outskirts. I woke up in Ladera city, -what word did you use? Gijinkified?- and didn't have any idea what to do. So I tried to get back to my trainer-"

"Yeah, because THAT would totally work out well," the ninetails said, rolling its eyes.

"You wouldn't know!" the dog said angrily. "Mary was a very understanding trainer."

"I remain unconvinced."

"Well, be that way. Basically, I messed up, and got really lost in the wilderness, but didn't realize it. I got into a couple of scuffles, but mostly just kept heading this way. I couldn't see the mountains through the tree tops-"

"You didn't think to just climb a tree?" asked Murkrow, quizzically.

Silence. The dog's response was evident in his peevish expression. The ninetails leaned back, the beginning of another sarcastic smirk tugging on its face.

"But anyway, I didn't realize I was going the wrong way until a day or so later, when I was already a fair ways up the mountain. By then, I was so thirsty, I had no choice but to try to get to the waterfall I saw above. By the time I did, I was already a fair ways up, so I decided to just climb the whole mountain and see if I could find some caves or something to sleep in. I ended up here. By then, I was really hungry, too. You know the rest," the dog recited, somewhat sadly.

I don't think he's lying, Murkrow realized, staring into the dog's now downturned face. And if he was a trained pokemon, he'd probably starve before he could actually catch anything, or poison himself eating the wrong berries, or get himself killed messing with a pokemon he shouldn't have. Then again, trained pokemon usually could fight pretty well…

"Maybe we could let him stay with us for a few days. He's going to get himself killed if he doesn't learn something about surviving in the wild," Murkrow slowly said, "and trained pokemon usually are pretty good in a fight." At this, the dog's expression momentarily allowed a bit of hope before the ninetails frowned.

"Yeah, but he's just proved he can't run silently to save his life. Literally. I don't want to get caught by something nasty because of him," the ninetails irritably replied.

"We can always ditch him if he becomes a problem, and the larger a group we are, the less likely something _will_ attack us."

"You know what? Fine, he can stay for a while. I won't pretend he's not tugging my heartstrings, but dog, you better believe me when I say I will leave you in the dust if you cause problems," the ninetails said snappily. Then it turned and walked back towards the firelit cave, several tails flicking in annoyance.

Murkrow and the dog eyed each other as he slowly withdrew his claws. The dog stood up and started walking back with him, doing its best to be quiet, but still managing to snap seemingly every twig in the forest.

"Thank you. SO much," the dog tried to whisper.

"Well," said Murkrow hesitantly, "Welcome to the team."


End file.
